Woman briefly jailed for battery for 'intentionally sneezing' in courtroom bailiff's face

A woman from Channahon, Illinois, “intentionally sneezed” in a bailiff’s face in a Will County courtroom. Mellissa Estelle, 24, was jailed on a battery charge in connection with the alleged aggravated sneezery.

Estelle was in court on Wednesday morning for a traffic case when a bailiff repeatedly reprimanded her for putting her feet on the seats and speaking loudly while the judge was on the bench.



Estelle then “got up from her seat, approached the bailiff face to face, within three to four inches, and ‘intentionally sneezed’ into the bailiff’s face,” police said.

The bailiff reportedly told county deputies “that ‘a mucous-type substance’ was on her face after the incident.” The bailiff also accused Estelle of pushing her in the chest. Estelle spent more than six hours in jail before she was released on $1,000 bond.